U.S. President Donald Trump has outlined his mandate for incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte: He wants to gut the office.
Trump said in a Wall Street Journal interview published on Friday that he believes the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is too bloated, and has tasked Pulte, who will take over for Tulsi Gabbard, with overseeing staffing cuts.
“I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” he told the Journal.
The Journal reported Trump suggested Pulte prioritize firing staff who served during the Biden and Obama administrations.
Trump told reporters on Friday he “wouldn’t mind” staffing cuts at ODNI.
“I’ve heard that’s way too high for way too long,” he said on Air Force One of the staff levels at the agency. “If he cut, I wouldn’t mind that.”
Trump’s vision for ODNI could further alienate Republicans on Capitol Hill, some of whom expressed dismay following the announcement that Trump had tapped a close ally with zero national security experience to lead the government’s intelligence-sharing operation.
Trump downplayed Pulte’s lack of national security experience while speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday.
“Bill is a guy that will be able to figure it out very quickly,” he said.
Pulte earned a reputation as a staunch Trump loyalist during his stint as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — a role he continues to serve in, in addition to his intelligence community responsibilities — when he recommended that the Department of Justice launch mortgage fraud investigations into some of Trump’s political enemies.
The president stressed that Pulte’s appointment will be temporary and that he is considering other candidates to fill the role permanently. He told the Journal that serving on an acting basis “gives you more power” to enact the sweeping changes he hopes to impose.
Trump said he expects the person he nominates to permanently succeed Gabbard to continue the staffing cuts he’s asked Pulte to start.
“Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come,” Trump said. “Because, if [Pulte] reduced the size, in conjunction with me … and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in … he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn’t have to saddle somebody that goes in.”
Trump also said he wants Pulte to focus on releasing information related to the 2020 presidential election, which Trump regularly and falsely asserts was stolen from him. He told reporters on Thursday that “you may find out some things about the rigged elections” following Pulte’s appointment.
When asked by the Journal what information he hopes Pulte will release, Trump said “I would say everything — he should look at everything and make a determination.”
Megan Messerly contributed to this report.